TexasObamacare

							                                            Orrrcn oF THE Govnn¡von
RICK PERRY
GOVERNOR




       July 9,2012




       The Honorable Kathleen Sebelius
       Secretary
       U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
       200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
       Washington, D.C. 2020I

       Dear Secretary Sebelius    :




       In the ObamaCare plan, the federal government sought to force the states to expand their
       Medicaid programs by * in the words of the Supreme Court - putting a gun to their heads. Now
       that the "gun to the head" has been rernoved, please relay this message to the President: I oppose
       both the expansion of Medicaid as provided in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
       and the creation ofa so-called "state" insurance exchange, because both represenLbrazen
       intrusions into the sovereignty of our state.

       I stand proudly with the growing chorus of governors who reject the PPACA power grab. Thank
       God and our nation's founders that we have the right to do so.

       Neither a"state" exchange nor the expansion of Medicaid under the Orwellian-named PPACA
       would result in better "patient protection" or in more "affordable çate." V/hat they would do is
       make Texas a mere appendage of the federal government when it comes to health care.

       The PPACA does not truly allow states to create and operate their own exchanges. Instead, it
       gives the federal government the final say as to which insurance plans can operate in a so-called
       "state" exchange, what benehts those plans must provide, and what price controls and cost limits
       will apply. It leaves many questions to be answered later through federal "future rulemaking."
       In short, it essentially treats the states like subcontractors through which the federal government
       can control the insurance markets and pursue federal priorities rather than those of the individual
       states.

       Through its proposed expansion of Medicaid, the PPACA would simply enlarge a broken system
       that is already financially unsustainable. Medicaid is a system of inflexible mandates, one-size-
       fits-all requirements, and wasteful, bureaucratic inefficiencies. Expanding it as the PPACA



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The Honorable Kathleen Sebelius
July 9,2012
Page 2



provides would only exacerbate the failure of the current system, and would threaten even Texas
with financial ruin.

I look forward to implementing health care solutions that are right for the people of Texas. I
urge you to support me in that effort. In the meantime, the PPACA's unsound encroachments
will find no foothold here.

Sincerely




Rick Peny
Governor
                 ?*l
RP:kwp

cc     The Honorable David Dewhurst
       The Honorable Joe Straus